1789
Year 1789 (MDCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). 1789 was the year of the first French Revolution which lasted until the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815, a watershed historical event that drew the age of unlimited monarchies to a close and ushered in the tumultuous 19th century. Events of 1789 January - June * January 7 - First nationwide United States election is held. * January 21 - The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston. * January 23 - Georgetown University becomes the first Catholic college in the United States (Washington). : 1st U.S. President, George Washington, elected.]] * February 4 - George Washington is unanimously elected the first President of the United States by the U.S. Electoral College. * March 4 - At Federal Hall in New York City, the first U.S. Congress meets and declares the new Constitution of the United States to be in effect. *March 18 - The last burning at the stake took place at Newgate when Catherine (or Christian) Murphy was executed for High Treason coining. * April 1 - At Federal Hall in New York City, the United States House of Representatives attains its first quorum and elects Frederick Muhlenberg of Pennsylvania as its first House Speaker. * April 28 - Fletcher Christian leads a mutiny on [[Wikipedia:HMS Bounty|HMS Bounty]] against Captain William Bligh. *April 30 - George Washington is inaugurated at Federal Hall in New York City, beginning his term as the 1st President of the United States. * May 5 - In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time in 175 years. * June 14 - [[Wikipedia:Mutiny on the Bounty (history)|HMAV Bounty]] mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 4,000 mile journey in an open boat. : Mutiny on the Bounty.]] * June 17 - In France, representatives of the Third Estate at the Estates-General declare themselves the National Assembly. * June 20 - Tennis Court Oath made in Paris. July - December * July 9 - In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution. * July 10 - Alexander Mackenzie reaches Mackenzie River Delta. * July 11 - King of France fires popular chief minister Necker. * July 12 - Angry Parisian crowd demonstrates against King’s decision to dismiss minister Necker. * July 14 - French Revolution (1789-1799) begins: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille and free seven prisoners. In rural areas, peasants attack noble manors. : Storming of the Bastille.]] * July 27 - The first U.S. federal government agency under the new Constitution, the Department of Foreign Affairs (later renamed the Department of State), is established. * August 4 - In France, members of the Constituent Assembly take an oath to end feudalism and abandon their privileges. * August 7 - The United States War Department is established. * August 26 - Declaration of the Rights of Man in France. * August 28 - William Herschel discovers Enceladus, one of Saturn's moons. * September 2 - United States Department of the Treasury is founded. * September 22 - Russo-Turkish War: Alexander Suvorov roundly defeats the 100,000 Turks in the Battle of Rymnik. * September 24 - The Judiciary Act of 1789 establishes the federal judiciary. * September 25 - The United States Congress proposes a set of twelve amendments for ratification by the states. Ratification for ten of these proposals is completed on December 5, 1791, creating the United States Bill of Rights. An additional proposal is ratified more than two centuries later in 1992. * September 29 - The United States War Department first establishes the nation's first regular army, with a strength of several hundred men. * November 6 - Pope Pius VI appoints Father John Carroll the first Roman Catholic bishop in the United States. * November 20 - New Jersey ratifies the United States Bill of Rights, the first state to do so. *November 21 - North Carolina ratifies the United States Constitution and becomes the 12th U.S. state. *November 26 - A national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as recommended by President George Washington and approved by Congress. Undated * Change of Ottoman sultan of the Ottoman Empire from Abd-ul-Hamid I (1773-1789) to Selim III (1789-1807). * Thomas Jefferson brings the first macaroni machine to the United States. * United States Revenue Cutter Service (predecessor of United States Customs Service and direct predecessor of the United States Coast Guard) is founded. * United States Marshals Service is founded. * Influenced by Dr. Benjamin Rush's argument against excessive use of alcohol, about 200 farmers in a Connecticut community formed a temperance association. Births * January 4 - Benjamin Lundy, American abolitionist (died 1839) * January 21 - William Machin Stairs, Canadian businessman and statesman (died 1865) * March 16 - Georg Ohm, German physicist (died 1854) * July 19 - John Martin, English painter (died 1854) * August 21 - Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician (died 1857) * August 28 - Stephanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden (died 1860) * September 15 - James Fenimore Cooper, American writer (died 1851) * December 28 - Catharine Sedgwick, American writer (died 1867) * Dost Mohammad Khan, Wazir-i-azam of Kabul, King-Regent of Kabul, Emir of Kabul, King of Kandahar (died 1863) : See also 1789 births. Deaths *January 1 - Fletcher Norton, English politician (born 1716) *January 8 - Jack Broughton, English boxer (born 1703) *January 23 - Frances Brooke, English writer (born 1724) *February 19 - Nicholas Van Dyke, American lawyer and President of Delaware (born 1738) *April 7 - Abd-ul-Hamid I, Ottoman Sultan (born 1725) *April 7 - Petrus Camper, Dutch anatomist (born 1722) *April 26 - Count Petr Ivanovich Panin, Russian soldier (born 1721) * May 1 - George Fife Angas, Founder of South Australia (died 1879) *May 9 - Jean Baptiste Vaquette de Gribeauval, French Sartillery specialist (born 1715) *May 25 - Anders Dahl, Swedish botanist (born 1751) *June 4 - Prince Louis-Joseph of France, son of Louis XVI of France (tuberculosis) (born 1781) *July 13 - Victor de Riqueti, French economist (born 1715) *July 14 - Jacques de Flesselles, French provost (assassinated) (born 1721) *July 15 - Jacques Duphly, French composer (born 1715) *July 22 - Joseph-François Foulon, French politician (executed) (born 1715) *October 27 - John Cook, American farmer and President of Delaware (born 1730) *December 3 - Claude Joseph Vernet, French painter (born 1714) *December 12 - John Ponsonby, Irish politician (born 1713) *December 23 - Charles-Michel de l'Épée, French philanthropist and developer of signed French (born 1712) : See also 1789 deaths. Fictional 1789 * This year was used as the third time world (Smuggler's Cove) in The Lost Vikings II.